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From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), yesterday blamed the failure of the multi-trillion naira Ajaokuta Iron and Steel Complex on governments’ policies.
Speaking during the presentation of a communiqué of 2023 annual engineering conference in Abuja, the President of NSE, Tasiu Saad Gudari-Wudil, said that the problem of Ajaokuta was political and deliberate governments’ decisions.
According to him, it was a policy attempt to ensure that the complex does not function. He, therefore, called for a full reactivation of the complex.
He said that the federal government should hand over the complex to engineers for reactivation.
“Conference recommended that the government should make deliberate and sustainable efforts geared towards achieving full reactivation, rehabilitation and modernisation of Ajaokuta Iron and Steel Complex for sustainable industrial growth and development” he said, adding that the government and relevant stakeholders should develop policies and incentives that specifically target rural Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), such as tax breaks, subsidies and grants for start-ups.
As part of efforts to support rural MSMEs, the government should make registration of businesses easy, they noted.
“The government should simplify and streamline bureaucratic procedures for business registration, licensing and compliance; encourage the private sector to collaborate with civil society organisations to leverage their resources, expertise, and networks in supporting rural MSMEs.
“Government and relevant stakeholders should pre-select and prioritise dominant economic activities in designated rural areas with comparative advantage, identify the value chains, develop proper and sellable business cases and plans that explicitly illustrate financial and economic opportunities for pursuing them and assisting with appropriate interventions” Gudari-Wudil, submitted.
The society called on the government and the private sector to increase investments and funding in education and research.
